World champion Mikhail Tal

tal in 1962

tal won strong tournament @ zürich, 1959. following interzonal, top players carried on candidates tournament, yugoslavia 1959. tal showed superior form winning 20/28 points, ahead of paul keres 18½, followed tigran petrosian, vasily smyslov, sixteen-year old bobby fischer, svetozar gligorić, friðrik Ólafsson, , pal benko. tal s victory attributed dominance on lower half of field; whilst scoring 1 win , 3 losses versus keres, won 4 individual games against fischer, , took 3½ points out of 4 each of gligorić, olafsson, , benko.

in 1960, @ age of 23, tal thoroughly defeated relatively staid , strategic mikhail botvinnik in world championship match, held in moscow, 12½–8½ (six wins, 2 losses, , thirteen draws), making him youngest-ever world champion (a record later broken garry kasparov, earned title @ 22). botvinnik, had never faced tal before title match began, won return match against tal in 1961, held in moscow, 13–8 (ten wins five, 6 draws). in period between matches botvinnik had thoroughly analyzed tal s style, , turned of return match s games slow wars of maneuver or endgames, rather complicated tactical melees tal s happy hunting ground. tal s chronic kidney problems contributed defeat, , doctors in riga advised should postpone match health reasons. yuri averbakh claimed botvinnik agree postponement if tal certified unfit moscow doctors, , tal decided play. short reign atop chess world made him 1 of 2 so-called winter kings interrupted botvinnik s long reign 1948 1963 (the other smyslov, world champion 1957–58).

his highest elo rating 2705, achieved in 1980. highest historical chessmetrics rating 2799, in september 1960.